


At First Sight

by kathkin



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Parent AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 09:53:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8157965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathkin/pseuds/kathkin
Summary: The Doctor wasn’t altogether sure he believed in love at first sight. But in a split second, he fell head over heels.





	

The train pulled into the station, slowing down, down, and with a last hiss, coming down a halt. Watching from the upper level of the station, the Doctor held his breath, counting his hearts’ beats till the doors opened.

At last, at _last_ soldiers came out and slid open the great metal doors, one by one. People swarmed out, crowds of them clutching their children, clutching their loved ones, clutching what belongings they had to their chests.

No; no, this wouldn’t do at all. He’d thought it would be easier to see him, from the upper level, but it was a nightmare, the crowd below a seething mess of filthy people, indistinguishable from each other.

The Doctor dithered, then raced for the stairs, raced down, down to the echoing old part of the station, the part that had been grand and beautiful, before the bombs had begun to fall.

Up ahead, the mob pressed against the final checkpoints, the last line of military defence that kept them from aid workers, from waiting family and friends, from the closest thing they had to a home.

Then at last the first few people were cleared, and a few more, and still more, till they were swarming through the gates, spreading out across the station in search of help.

The Doctor scanned the crowd, searching their faces, their clothes, searching for any sign of Jamie.

He had to be here; he simply _had_ to be. This was the last train out of the south and Jamie hadn’t been on any of the others, so he had to be here, today. It was only logical.

 _Or maybe_ , said a nasty little voice at the back of his head, _he’s dead – he’s been dead this whole time_.

The Doctor quashed it and kept on searching the crowd. He didn’t dare move. He ought to stay put – stay put, and let Jamie find him. And Jamie _would_ find him. The crowd was beginning to thin. It wouldn’t be long now.

The worst of it was, none of this should have happened. This should have been a safe mission, strictly observation. The Great War of Orion Beta wasn’t due for another year. A minor disturbance to the timeline, they’d said – just drop in and take a look. That was all they were supposed to do. The war wasn’t meant to break out early.

Jamie wasn’t meant to end up lost in the middle of it.

There were tears in his eyes and he wiped them crossly upon his sleeve. The crowd was thinning and still he couldn’t see Jamie. He closed his eyes. If he wasn’t here, the Doctor would tear the planet apart to find him, if he had to – but they wouldn’t let him. They’d been trying to pull him out for days. With Jamie lost, they’d never –

“Doctor?” A soft, familiar voice, calling his name.

The Doctor opened his eyes – and there he was, Jamie, Jamie alive and well, clutching a bundle of cloth to his chest. He was thin, drawn, thoroughly worse for wear, but he wasn’t badly hurt, and he was here, and he was _alive_.

A giddy smile spread across the Doctor’s face and he broke into a shambling run, dashing to Jamie’s side, all ready to scoop him up in his arms, to hold him and never let go – but Jamie shrank away from his touch. “Jamie?” said the Doctor, more than a little hurt.

Shifting the bundle in his arms, Jamie beckoned the Doctor in.

From within the faded blanket, a tiny face gazed up at him. It was a baby – a baby, with brown eyes and curls of black hair, eyes bright and curious.

“Her name’s Tessa,” said Jamie as the Doctor stared in astonishment. “She’s – she’s mine.” 

He said it with such a plaintive note in his voice, as if he truly thought the Doctor might be angry, might – might turn around and walk away, or shout, or –

The Doctor wasn’t altogether sure he believed in love at first sight. But standing in that station, lost people milling all around him, looking at the baby in Jamie’s arms – in a split second, he fell head over heels.

“Oh,” he said. “Oh, oh Jamie –” Overcome, he kissed the baby’s forehead, pulled Jamie to him and kissed him too, kissed his lips, his cheeks his eyelids. He wanted to shower him with kisses, wanted to hold him and never let go, wanted to hold both of them. He put his arms around the pair of them and held on tight, pressing his face into Jamie’s neck, tears beading in his eyes.

“Careful,” said Jamie, his voice shaking. “You’re getting me wet.”

“Sorry.” Pulling away, the Doctor wiped his eyes. “Oh, Jamie, I’m so sorry.”

Jamie shook his head, wordless. 

“Here,” said the Doctor. “I’ll – I’ll take her.” She fussed for a moment, when Jamie handed her over, but soon settled. Her little questing hand, reaching up, found his nose and squeezed. Jamie let out an anxious laugh and the Doctor joined him, laughing out his relief and sudden joy. “Come along, now,” he said. “Let’s get the pair of you something to eat.

*

“It was a few weeks after the fighting started,” said Jamie.

They were sitting in the Doctor’s room in the embassy. Tessa was on the Doctor’s knees, sucking greedily at the bottle in his hand as he watched, charmed. Jamie saw in the armchair across from him, rocking forward in his seat, unwilling or perhaps unable to be too far away.

“They put us all into this – this place, they said it was a shelter but it was more like, like a prison – we’d been there a few nights when the bombing started.” Jamie took in a deep, shaky breath, remembering. “They put the gates down – these gates, these big metal gates. They said after it was to keep people safe, but they couldnae – they couldnae get out. I was on the right side but there were so many people trapped – I was tryin’ tae help them, and, and Tessa’s mother – she just put her in my hands.”

The Doctor looked up at him, instinctively curling his arm tighter around the baby.

“She passed her through the gate. She was so wee then – she put her in my hands, and told me to get her out.” Jamie drew in a breath. “I promised I’d come back for her – for all of them – but when I got outside the whole place, it just – they all burned. God, Doctor, they all burned.”

“I’m so sorry,” said the Doctor softly.

“When they rounded us up, those of us who made it out, I told them Tessa was mine. I knew I shouldn’t, but I – I couldnae let them take her away. She was all I had. I didn’t know if I’d ever see –” He sighed. “I tried to look after her.”

“You did the best you could,” the Doctor soothed. “She’s certainly in better shape than you.”

“I’m so damn tired.” Jamie sank back in his armchair, running a hand over his mouth in thought. “They’ll never let us keep her. Will they?”

“I’m sure the local authorities won’t mind,” said the Doctor, eyes riveted on Tessa’s darling little face.

“I didn’t mean them,” said Jamie.

“Ah.” The Doctor didn’t dare meet his eyes.

“They won’t let us keep her.”

“I’ll have a, ah, word with them,” said the Doctor in a low voice.

“Look, Doctor, I know how they are –”

“I said I’ll talk to them.” The Doctor looked at him sharply. “I certainly shan’t let them take her away. She’s ours, isn’t she?”

“Aye,” said Jamie, the set of his shoulders softening, relaxing. “Aye, she’s ours.” A slow, silly smile spread across his face.

Tessa finished her bottle, and hiccupped, nuzzling up against the worn fabric of the Doctor’s coat. “Oh, dear,” sighed the Doctor. “I think someone needs a sleep.”

“Aye,” Jamie agreed.

“You too,” said the Doctor sternly. “You get yourself washed up, and then I’m putting you to bed.”

“Aye,” said Jamie with a solemn nod. Levering himself out of his comfortable chair, his eyes flicked to Tessa. “You’ll look after –”

“Of course,” the Doctor soothed. Jamie nodded, murmuring an acknowledgement, and stumbled away towards the washroom.

“Come along now, poppet,” said the Doctor, lifting Tessa. “Let’s get you to bed, hm? Let’s get you to bed.” Laying her down in the crib, brushing a few stray curls out of her drowsy eyes, he admired her. “Oh, you’re just perfect, aren’t you?” he mused. “Oh, aren’t you just perfect. There, now. There we are.”

Lingering in the doorway, Jamie watched the Doctor fuss over their baby, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from him; feeling, for the first time in weeks, as if everything might just be alright. _Better_ than alright; he felt, for the first time in a long while, like everything might be going to be good.

**Author's Note:**

> Read the (very sappy) follow-up [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6317737/chapters/19155814).


End file.
